Improvement in railway-signals operated by electricity



Patnted Aug .1i,1874.

JJ insses:

UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR H. DAILEY, OF DWIGHT, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY-SIGNALS OPERATED BY ELECTRICITY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 153,935, dated August11, 1874; application filed April 11, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

I Be it known that I, ARTHUR H. DAILEY, of Dwight, in the count I ofLivingston and State of Illinois, have invented certain Improvements inElectric Railroad-Signals, of which the following is a specification:

This invention relates to a signal apparatus to be placed permanentlynear the railroadtrack at a point between stations, and so contrivedthat, by means of electricity, it may set at any moment in condition, sothat a passing train will cause it to operate and explode a torpedo ortorpedoes, and thus give warning of danger. I

The nature of the invention will be understood from the description andclaims and the drawing accompanying and forming part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatuswith the cover or housing shown in section. Fig. 2 is a top or plan viewof same with the housing removed. Fig. 3 is a view of the magnets andgear apparatus detached and upon a larger comparative scale.

Like letters of reference used in the several figures indicate likeparts.

In the said drawing, A represents the bedplate or foundation upon whichthe apparatus is supported. The whole contrivance may well be mountedupon an elevated post at the side of the railroad. B is an armprojecting from the grooved wheel 0, which is carried upon journals G,bearing in the standards 0 Around this grooved wheel passes a cord, D,to which the large weight D is attached. Upon the end of the arm areplaced tablets b, to which the torpedoes are fastened, and when said armis released'from its detent, subsequently to be described, the weight D,acting upon the wheel, swings the arm rapidly over through an arc, andbrings the torpedoes violently in contact with'the anvils I), placed atthe rear of the frame or bed, exploding them. The anvils are placedoutside of the housing E, as shown at Fig. 1, so that the machinery isprotected from the. effects of the explosion. The detent consists of anarm, F, projecting to the rear from the upright inclined shaft P, whichbears below the bed a second short arm, F projecting to the front, andcarrying the hinged pole G.

The detent-arm F is grooved, so that it will rest side, rotating theshaft F upon a wedge-like part of the torpedo-carrying arm or hammer B,anddetain it in the locked position shown in the drawings; but shouldthe shaft F be rotated in either direction the detent will ride oif andallow the hammer to escape and explode its torpedoes. This, however, canonly take place when the pole G is lowered into the position indicatedby dotted lines at Fig. 1, which is its position when set to warn atrain. When so set the pole G lies over the track in such position as tobe struck by a passing train and swung, to one and releasing the detentfrom the torpedo-hammer, and thus giving the warning signal for thetrain to stop. In front of the detent contrivanoe just described'is aspring-trip, consisting of the shaft H, bearing the hook h, over which aspringhook, t, upon the pole G takes to retain said pole in an elevatedposition, as shown in the full lines at Fig. 1, where it will be out ofthe way of passing trains. Attached to the shaft H is an arm, J, whichis connected by a cord to the axis of the cog-wheel m, being woundaround said axis. Now, when said cog-wheel is released and free to turn,the weight of the pole G upon the hook it will turn the shaft H,

and when the hook is sufiicient-ly depressed said pole will fall. Thecog-wheel m is borne in a pivoted frame, m, which carries the armature aof a magnet, M. The retractile spring 0 holds the frame and armatureback from the magnet normally, and holds the cog-wheel m in mesh withthe cog-wheel p, which is borne in stationary standards q. Thiscog-wheel 1) has its shaft 19 wound with a cord, 1', to which a smallweight, w, is attached. Now, if a steady and continued current is sentthrough the magnets M, the armature will be attracted, which will swingthe attached frame so that the cogwheel at is out of gear with itsneighbor p, and is therefore free to turn and unwind the cord connectingto the arm J, allowing the arm J to rise and release the pole G, whichfalls across the track and in thepath of an approaching train; but lestthe escape of the cord should be too rapid, the anchor-escapement 8 isfixed, so that it will engage the cogwheel m when lifted, as stated. Inthe meantime, to prevent the weight 0* from running down, a pawl, l, ismade to engage the cog wheel 9, said pawl being attached to and operatedby the frame carrying the armature and the other cog-wheel.

It will be seen that only a steady and continuous current continued forsome little time will suffice to release the pole G and allow it todrop, because the armaturemust be held to the magnet long enough toallow all of the cord j to unwind and the arm J to rise to its fullextent, because when the arm ature falls back the cog-wheelp willre-engage the cog-wheel m, and said wheel 10, being now released fromthe pawl I, will be revolved by the descent of the weight r, and willrevolve the cog-wheel m and wind up the cord j, and thus draw down thearm J to its original position. Thus it will be seen that momentaryflashes of atmospheric electricity, although they may affect the magnet,will not suflice to operate the mechanism and cause the pole to fall.

When the pole is struck by a passin g train it is, of course, swungviolently around, and lest it swing back again, and thus becomeentangled with the train and broken, I place upon the shaft F above thedetent-arm F, a hinged yoke, T, with two notches, t t, one at each side,so that when the arm F reaches one of these notches it will be lockedthere by said yoke. The axle of the cog-wheel p is connected to saidwheel by a ratchet to allow of the weight 1" being wound up withoutrotating. the wheel.

The circuit for operating the magnets above described may be follows:All of the signals between any two stations may be connected by a wirerunning from one to the other of the stations, the wire being suppliedwith a groundswitch at each station. Now, if a current is sent into thewire at either station (the ground.

being cut out at that station) it will pass through all of the signalsand operate them all, going to ground at the other station; or, a wiremay lead from a single station to a signal and be grounded there. Thecircuit is to be closed when the signal is to be made, and only then. Tooperate the signal the circuit must be something more than aninstantaneous flash, and hence it should be closed and kept so for atleast a full minute.

Having described my invention, that which I claim as new,and desire tosecure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination of the hammer B, actuated by a weight, D, theswinging pole G, latch or detent F, spring-trip H h i, and theelectro-magnet, the armature of which is attached to and operates todisengage the said spring-trip, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the hammer B, the

wheel 0, weight D, the detent-arm F, shaft F arm F and pole G,substantially as spec- 3. The combination of the pole G, detentcontrivance, and the shaft H, provided with hook it and arm J, and thehook '5 upon the pole G, substantially as specified.

4. The notched yoke T, in combination with the swinging pole G,substantially as specified.

5. The combination, with the arm J, of the magnet M, the cog-wheels m p,swinging frame m, armature a, pawl l, and weight r, substantially asspecified.

ARTHUR H. BAILEY.

Witnesses J OHN W. MUNDAY, HEINRICH F. BRUNS.

